Exodus 20:22-24; Exodus 32:1-20
Prior to the events that are described in today’s Old Testament lesson from the Book of Exodus, and prior to the time when Moses went up on Mount Sinai to receive further instruction from the Lord, God had already begun to reveal to the people of Israel how he wanted to be honored and worshiped by them. At this earlier time – also recorded in the Book of Exodus – the Lord had told Moses to deliver this message to the nation:
“You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.”
The God of Israel is indeed a God who speaks. He is not a dumb idol, but is real and living. As he communicates with his people, he speaks warnings and judgment against sin and evil, and speaks mercy and pardon to the penitent.
He is a God who makes and keeps promises. The “name” by which he makes himself known is his testamental name: Yahweh, or Jehovah.
This name does not refer merely to his existence as the almighty creator and preserver of the universe, but it refers to him as the God who loves and watches over his people, and who has and maintains relationships with them.
As God’s people would now gather for worship according to his will – on the Sabbath day and on other festival days – they would do so in order to hear God speak. This speaking might sometimes be through Moses, but would also be through the inspired Scriptures, which now permanently enshrine the voice of God in written form.
God also commanded his Old Testament people to offer two kinds of sacrifice on a regular basis, which pictured and implemented two important things: the need for reconciliation between a sinful humanity and a holy God, through burnt offerings; and the need for ongoing harmony and peace between God and man – once reconciliation has been achieved – through peace offerings.
Burn offerings involved the complete destruction by fire of a sacrificed animal, which died in the place of sinful humanity. This sacrifice atoned for the sins that the people had committed against God and his law, and turned away God’s anger and wrath.
Peace offerings involved only a partial destruction of the sacrificed animal, with the remaining part being eaten by those who had made the offering, as a fellowship meal with God. The peace offering celebrated the harmonious relationship with God that the burnt offering had brought about.
So, these sacrifices were also to be a part of the worship life of God’s people – at least in the time of the Old Testament.
Throughout the centuries and on into the New Testament era, the Word of God would continue to be heard and believed, as believers in God gathered for worship, and as they still do so. God’s name would also be made known and would be remembered, according to the saving works that God had done for his people.
But in the New Testament era, with the coming of Christ, the animal sacrifices that God had commanded came to an end, since they found their fulfillment in the true and final sacrifice of Christ on the cross. And the remembrance of the name of the Lord is now attached specifically to a remembrance of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, through whom we have been liberated: not from slavery to the Egyptians, but from a deeper and more serious slavery to sin.
For the Hebrews at the time of the Exodus, however, these fulfillments had not yet occurred. When they gathered, it was to be for the purpose of hearing God speak, with a message that was filled with promises for an earthly homeland in the near future, and with promises for a messianic heavenly homeland in the more distant future.
They were to hear God speak through Moses, or through the Scriptures that Moses by divine inspiration had already written down. They were to be attentive in listening to God speak to them with authority and compassion, with warnings and assurances, with judgment and pardon.
And they were to listen to God’s voice with deep humility and with profound reverence. They were to be humble and reverent, also as the divinely commanded sacrifices were performed on their behalf.
They would always know that God is to be taken seriously, and that his holiness and righteousness are always to be acknowledged. That’s the way it was supposed to be.
That’s what God had told the Hebrews to do. That’s how they were supposed to honor him, serve him, and worship him.
In view of everything he had done for them – rescuing them from bondage in Egypt, and establishing them as a free nation – one would think that they would have carefully remembered this, and carefully complied with this.
But they did not remember. They did not comply. What they did instead is what is recorded in today’s reading:
“Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, ‘Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And Aaron said to them, ‘Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.’ Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”
The crowds had approached Moses’ brother Aaron with a request that he fashion a religious idol for them, according to the pattern of the worship practices that they had been accustomed to in Egypt. But instead of completely rejecting this suggestion, and rebuking them for it, Aaron followed the pathway of compromise.
He would let them have the kind of worship event that Egyptian polytheists have, but he would pretend that in this case, it was actually dedicated to the Lord – Yahweh, or Jehovah. But the Lord was not honored by this.
He was infuriated by it. He let Moses know what he thought about what the people of Israel were doing – while Moses was on Mount Sinai – when he informed Moses that they “have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them.”
God had said to the people: “You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.” But in their new worship, the Hebrews no longer had any interest in listening to God’s Word. They did not rise up with fear and reverence, to hear the reading or chanting of Holy Scripture. Instead, they “rose up to play.”
God had said to the people: “You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen.”
But in their new worship, the Hebrews had done exactly what God had forbidden. They did what they wanted to do, shaping their contrived worship according to their own carnal desires and worldly notions, while completely ignoring – and directly disobeying – what God had commanded.
Oh, they still followed an outward ritual of making burnt offerings and peace offerings. But this was not done according to God’s Word.
And so instead of being emblems and instruments of reconciliation with God, these sacrifices – these profane and desecrated sacrifices – became emblems and instruments of their provoking of God; and of their causing God to threaten to disown and destroy them. In response to what they had done, the Lord told Moses:
“I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them.”
God had said to the people: “In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.” But in the place where the golden calf was being worshiped, with frivolous presumption rather than with humble faith, God’s name was not being remembered.
Yes, the Lord would still come to them. But he would come to curse and punish them, not to bless them.
As I have already noted, there are differences between the way the people of God were supposed to worship in the time of the Old Testament, and the way we are supposed to worship now. We do not offer animal sacrifices, or any other kind of sacrifices that are designed to atone for our sins, because Jesus has already offered the one final sacrifice for all of us.
But we do gather around Word and sacrament in order to receive – by faith – the blessings and benefits of that one final sacrifice. The name of the Lord is remembered among us, especially as the Supper of the Lord is received in and for his remembrance.
And God’s people today do share with God’s people in the ancient past, a common faith in the truth of what God says, when he reminds us: “You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.”
From heaven God the Father tells us, concerning Jesus: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” And that Son then tells us a lot more.
God is still talking with us, in Jesus’ public sermons and private conversations, as we hear them read to us for our instruction from the four Gospels. God is still talking with us, in Jesus’ words of absolution for penitent sinners. God is still talking with us, in Jesus’ words of institution for each of the sacraments that he left for us.
God is talking, and we are listening. That’s what we come to church for. And therefore we will not follow the dangerous example of those who go to their churches to speculate about what they think might be true for them, and not to listen to what God says is most certainly true for everyone.
We will not follow the dangerous example of those who go to their churches for fun and entertainment – to rise up to play – and not to rise up in reverence in the hearing of the Holy Gospel, or to kneel down in reverence in the presence of the holy body and precious blood of Christ.
We have learned the hard lessons that are taught by the story of the golden calf, and by God’s furious reaction to it. As the Lord helps us, let us never forget those lessons, nor repeat those ancient mistakes.
Dear friends, by the merciful providence of God, we have an opportunity to come here every week to honor God as he wants to be honored: through hearing his teaching, and through believing that what he teaches is true.
We have an opportunity to come here every week, to worship God as he wants to be worshiped: through the faithful remembrance of his name, and of all the good things that he has done for us in the grace and power of his name.
As we live daily within our baptism – daily admitting our sins and daily rejoicing in God’s forgiveness in Christ – we will never hear God say that his wrath burns hot against us, and that he will consume us.
For the sake of Christ our Savior – to whom we cling in faith, and who covers over all our sins with his righteousness – God does not consume us. He restores us, heals us, and welcomes us into his loving presence.
As we daily yearn to be united to Christ – to learn his ways, and to grow in his wisdom – we will always want to be in a place where God causes his name to be remembered. And God will bring us to such a place, as he calls us to his house, and to his altar. Here he does indeed come to us, not to curse and punish us, but to bless us with his gracious adoption as his children, and with the promise of eternal life. Amen.